Am told that Brandon Graham has lost weight, is cut and area around the knee is stronger. Also had laser eye surgery to repair vision.

More on Graham: His trainer says he dropped 20-plus pounds, has regained agility and speed while adding strength. Heading to Philly Sunday.

Sounds good, huh? Let’s talk about the weight situation. I’ve written about this before, but it’s worth going over again. Graham went to Michigan as a LB. He showed up at 300 pounds. That immediately got him moved to DL. I guess Graham celebrated graduating HS the same way I did…cheap beer, buying Whoppers 2 at a time, and mixing in the regular pizza buffet.

Graham worked his tail off at Michigan. He became an elite player. He dominated the Senior Bowl. He had a very good showing at the Combine. Life was good. After tearing his ACL…things went south. Graham admitted in an interview that he got out of hand with eating cheesesteaks. He guessed at getting up to 290. I heard that he officially weighed in at one point at 287 pounds. Liking to eat and having a surgically repaired leg that limits your workout options is not a good combination.

Luckily, Graham’s knee is healed. He’s now back in workout mode. I’m sure some doubt that he’s “cut”. I can buy that. Graham is ultra-competitive. He knows this year could send his career one of two ways. In a weird way, JPP is also helping things. Graham has to hear and read all over about how it sucks we took him over JPP. That seems to have fueled him to get back to his old self. If that motivates him, great.

While I have no doubts about Graham being in shape, I will admit that I’m hesitant in regard to his knee. It has healed in the surgical sense, but I want to see BG on the move with my own eyes before I start thinking he’s all the way back. Microfracture surgery is no joke. Keep your fingers crossed, for BG’s sake and ours.

Brandon Graham can still be a very good DE. The Wide-9 is a big help, as well. By lining up out wide, there is more of a straight line to the QB. That takes pressure off the ACL. There is no hard cut to make. There is a natural rush angle. The ACL doesn’t affect speed or quickness. It affects agility and cutting.

More on the report about the Eagles and Rams looking into trading up. Sam offered an interesting idea on Twitter last night. What if the Eagles dealt DRC and pick 15 to the Browns so we could get Morris Claiborne. I would do that deal. I really like Claiborne.

Many of you wondered about the Rams moving up when they started off at #2. The Skins gave them a great deal to move back. Mike Holmgren publicly claimed that the Browns had a similar offer in place, but Jeff Fisher passed on it. Maybe. Fisher is good friends with Mike Shanahan. He could have turned down Holmgren for his buddy. Still, this is business. You go with the best offer. I tend to think the Browns made an offer, but were more value oriented than the Skins.

If the Rams do move up, it is for Trent Richardson. He is the best RB prospect since Adrian Peterson. He can be a special player. The Rams can get a RB in the 2nd round, but they can’t get Trent Richardson. If they really covet him, I could see them moving up.

* * * * *

Football Outsiders has a report up about missed tackles. And an Eagle led the league. Jarrad Page? No. Shady McCoy. This is for offensive players. They actually are talking about broken tackles, but that would have ruined my brilliant joke. Shady was pretty amazing last year at getting away from defenders when they seemingly had him dead to rights. To be fair, if you take out the 2 Dallas games, Shady would have probably only ranked 37th. Thank you Rob Ryan.

* * * * *

Off-topic

I know many of you are movie fans. Check out this amazing video about the restoration of Jaws. Runs about 8 minutes, but it is a great watch. Really interesting to see the actual film canisters with the original negative and how they digitally erase scratches and adjust colors. The technology is mind blowing.

_

P_P_K

Yo, Tommy, stay away from the Jaws stuff. I was a teenager when the original came out. A week or two after seeing it in the theater, a couple buddies and I went to Flroida to party. Every single time I entered the water I was frickin terrified. I hate that flick! Stick with the new Three Stooges.

If iggles fans think that the FO being interested in the 4th pick is just a rumor they’re crazy.our FO office seems to think they’re smarter than everyone else and tends to outsmart themselves..I can definitely see them trading the farm for tannehil.then at the press conference..AR will say ..we think he can be a heckova player and crap like that.now if this rumor involved FOs like Greenbay,Steelers,Ravens,Giants Patriots..then it could be said that It’s 100% bogus….things are a little too quiet on the iggles front….I’m hoping for the best in the draft…but can’t say that I won’t be surprised if the FO..messes up.we’re in a great position to draft BPA or move back and NOT reach for a player…..why mess with that..t.but I tend to think they will..AS22 wasn’t way off when he made his Madden comment

Cliff

Dude, c’mon.

D3Keith

I stopped reading right at “our FO office seems to think they’re smarter than everyone else.”

I’ve never read a good post based on that theory. nopain your stuff is usually good, I guess there’s a chance that could have been the first.

NoDecaf

Great piece on Jaws Tommy. It took attention off my draft migraine. 8p

Mark823

Would 15 and DRC be enough? Or would the Browns want another pick? I’m just not sure it makes the most sense, I mean the CB spot is fine right now as it is. If they love Claiborne it’s possible, but it seems like it makes more sense just to stay put.

TommyLawlor

This is all just speculation.

I agree that the most logical thing is to stay put. You just don’t know if there is a player that the Eagles covet. If there is, that’s when they go up for that guy.

Mark823

True, I think trading down could make some sense as well. Maybe they could get 2013 picks, the Eagles have enough picks for this year but will probably start building up picks for 2013 soon. Plus it’s possible that there just isn’t a player at 15 that is a great value pick/fit.

Cliff

If we traded up for Claiborne by trading DRC, would it then make sense to keep Asante for another season?

JJ_Cake

The only guys worth trading up for in a big way are Luck and RG3.

I want the Eagles to stay away from Blackmon. I see a a player similar in size to Michael Crabtree. We already have 2 starting WRs, an upgrade would be for a guy like Megatron, Andre Johnston, or Fitz. This draft is deep with many WRs. I’d rather see Fleener over a WR. NE and SF success was no Fluke. NFL teams have not figured out how to shut down Elite TEs.

The time to make a crazy trade up was for Eric Berry, or Patterson. Once in a decade type players.

Seems to me that the top two QBs, Kalil, and Keutchly are the only guys like that in this draft. Maybe Richardson, but I don’t think he’ll be as successful as AP. Maybe Emmit Smith, but AP and Steve Jackson are a different breed, to bad they are on such crappy teams. Ah, woe to the RB and LB, they are

JJ_Cake

Couldn’t edit my post, but I just wanted to finish with I hope we trade with KC to 11, or even 10, then pick either Cox or Keutchly.

M0rton

I second this notion.

The only two players worthy of a trade-up of any kind are already locked-in as #1 and #2.

– Tannehill has tons of question marks and doesn’t deserve to be a top-10 pick, let alone the beneficiary of a massive trade-up.

– Kalil is an excellent OT prospect, but the position is not important. Look at the last few Super Bowl winners and you’ll see this.

– Claiborne is a good, but not great, CB prospect. He has the potential to be a good player in the NFL, but he lacks the elite+ athleticism of the great ones (Deion Sanders, Rod Woodson, Charles Woodson, etc).

TommyLawlor

I do think the Eagles looked into Eric Berry, but the cost was going to be very steep. God, it would have been awesome to see him in green, though.

mcud

Good points all. I do think that Blackmon is going to be very, very good, and would be an upgrade over Maclin. But he’s not worth #15 and both #2s to move up.

TrentColeHamels

Speaking of guys I don’t want…. I have a bad feeling that both Cox and Luke are going to be gone at 15 and we are going to get stuck with Brockers. Just a weird gut feeling. It seems like a lot of the DTs in recent drafts have had high bust factors. Poe, Brockers, Worthy, they all make me nervous.

TommyLawlor

Brockers makes me nervous as well. Lots of potential, but very raw.

D3Keith

The consensus over the past few weeks has become if Cox and Luke are gone, bail out of 15 (perhaps trading with somebody who wants to get in position to get DeCastro) and resurface in the 20s somewhere.

I’d rather see this than a trade up, I think, although I can’t knock aggressiveness if you really believe in the player you’re going to get.

I think we’re all just thinking circles around ourselves at this point, given that most basic forseeable scenarios have been explored.

That’s why I appreciate Sam’s tweet. At least it was something new that had hardly been discussed.

Your Adrian Peterson comparison made me look up that draft class … god, that draft did not work out for the Eagles at all! After Bradley’s knee injury, Celek turned out to be the only long-term starter. I recently read a front office guy saying 4 starters is the Mendoza line for a draft. Kolb got us a #2 pick, but hasn’t worked out as anyone’s starter yet.

Cliff

I don’t know if you can always use the “4 starters” rule. I mean, isn’t so much of the draft about circumstance? That 2007 draft was a killer though, since we had so many positions that could’ve used upgrades at the time.

My favorite pick of 2007 – Nate Ilaoa. EVERYONE thought he was going to be the 2nd coming of Brian Westbrook in our offense. OUCH.

D3Keith

I covered that guy in high school. He could move, he was real slick, but was also a 170-pound slotback/punt returner, not the 245-pound behemoth he came out of Hawaii as.

4 starters per draft seems way high, definitely not a Mendoza line. Four starters is like the Pujols line, you get more than that it’s like Ted Williams. Mendoza is maybe four contributors. 4 guys that make the roster. 4 guys that start at least one game in their career as the definition of starter … maybe.

Even though we’re used to 9 and 10 picks, each team is supposed to have seven, compensatories not included. For more than half of the seven to turn out to be starters just for it to be an acceptable draft? Nah.

Any draft with 3 studs 4 years down the line tends to be one recalled fondly.

Cliff

Plus, in today’s NFL, what’s a “starter” anyway? I like your term – “studs.” Give us a few guys who contribute consistently.

TrentColeHamels

And a random thought about the rumor of us trading up for pick #4… The fact that this rumor got out actually make me feel really good that this is not the Eagles real plan, I mean, isn’t the Eagles FO one of the best in the league at keep their plans secret?

Did we get a whiff at all that the Eagles would move up 13 spots to draft Brandon Graham? Did we suspect last year that Danny Watkins was the guy? Did we think that the Birds would ever trade out of the 1st round only draft some guy named Kolb that we never heard of? Did we see the Jason Peters trade coming before it happened?

My point is that if the Eagles really did covet Tannehill or Claiborne I think there normal level discretion would apply, especially since the other team involved is Cleveland, who we have very strong ties too.

TommyLawlor

Good points.

Donald Kalinowski

Last year Peter King said that the Eagles would draft Danny Watkins.
There was a lot of speculation going on back in 2009 that the Eagles would trade for Jason Peters.
Last year everyone basically knew what the Eagles would get in exchange for Kevin Kolb.

The Kolb pick back in 2007 was a complete shock. McNabb was only 30 years old at the time. The Brandon Graham trade was a draft day trade. I don’t think the Eagles planned for it going into the draft. The Maclin pick was surprising and the Nnamdi signing was shocking as well.

TrentColeHamels

Out of the 100s of mock drafts that are posted every year, yes Peter King guessed right. Yayyy for Peter King.

Donald Kalinowski

He’s one of the more respectable members in the media. It’s not as if he just randomly made a bunch of mock drafts and had one that predicted the right player to the Eagles

TrentColeHamels

Yes, very true. But you are missing the point, predicting a move is different than reporting from “sources”. My point is the Eagles are very good at keeping secrets. With the exception of the Kolb / DRC trade, information rarely gets out about their plans. And the Kolb trade was a unique circumstance with last offseason being so strange. Get it?

ACViking

Check King’s track record in the past 5 drafts for the Eagles.

If he’s just “guessing” then he should move to Vegas and play roulette.
_____________________

RE: PETER KING – CNN

I’ve remarked on this before. Take what Peter King says about the Eagles to heart.

A week or so back in MMQB, Peter King said the Eagles would spend a 2nd round pick on a QB. Besides Weeden, who’s there in Rd 2?

My point, as said before, is King gets scoop on the Birds.

And if he’s saying the Eagles will draft a QB with a high pick, then I’d surmise there’s a good chance the Eagles will do exactly that . . . maybe even in Rd 1.

(POSTED BELOW)

D3Keith

Wasn’t it in the Nnamdi or Steve Smith negotiations that the Eagles specifically asked the agent to keep it quiet?

They don’t just accidentally catch everybody off guard, it seems like it’s by design.

And King’s done an awful nice job figuring the Birds out, but this year’s prediction of “will take a QB in the second round” is kind of vague compared to the others.

D3Keith

But that being said, contrasted with all the other pre-draft info that gets out, from respected members and otherwise, TrentColeHamels’s original point holds: The Eagles’ plans are rarely telegraphed ahead of time.

I don’t doubt the Eagles called about 4. But if they intended to do it, I don’t think they would have let it leak, especially from Cleveland, who they are “cool” with and whose m.o. they know.

I don’t buy it, for the reasons he listed and others.

austinfan

“The Wide-9 is a big help, as well. By lining up out wide, there is more of a straight line to the QB. That takes pressure off the ACL. There is no hard cut to make. There is a natural rush angle. The ACL doesn’t affect speed or quickness. It affects agility and cutting.”

Not so sure, the best pass rushing DEs on the Eagles all has top performances in the short shuttle, a test of cutting – Cole, Babin and Hunt. And I’ll bet Kearse would have tested out well.

The wide 9 allows the end to get around the OT without having to wrestle, but to get to the QB without doing a “Mamula” you need to be able to make a hard cut inside once you clear the OT. If you round that cut you end up behind the QB. What makes Cole so dangerous in the wide 9 is he doesn’t have to completely clear the OT, just by getting the edge, he can drop his weight and cut with power which makes him impossible to “arm block”, if the LT doesn’t move his feet fast enough, it’s all over, but that sets the LT up for the inside move.

The guys who can get by without sharp cuts are the 3-4 OLBs who line up even wider in a two point stance.

TommyLawlor

You always have to do some cutting, but the farther out you go, the less of an angle. That’s the whole point in the alignment.

When you line up tight, you go straight upfield and then have almost an L turn. That is a really difficult angle.

In the wide 9, the DE beats the OT upfield, then cuts to the QB, and in order to keep the OT from pushing him behind the QB, he has to execute that cut at high speed before the OT can recover and get to him, it’s similar in many ways to the cuts in the agility drills (SS, Cone) in that the DE starts low and has to keep his butt down going into his cut. If the DE takes a flat angle, it’s easier for the OT to cut off his path to the QB and ride him by (fewer steps for the OT to drop).

In a conventional DE stance, the DE works off the OT, using his hands, this requires more strength, but the angle is flatter because he’s a couple steps closer to the pocket. Here he needs more power to work through the block, so the VT is a good measure of the leg strength needed to power off the edge and upper body strength is more important (and why a conventional DE needs a repertoire of moves to keep the OT off balance, bull rush, spin inside, swim, etc.). The DE gets the edge by “fooling” the OT and getting a jump, but can use his his left arm to push off the OT as he goes by, if the OT starts to overcommit against that move, spin off it to the OT’s inside shoulder.

One reason for the success of the wide 9 is the undersized DE lined up on the OTs shoulder can be ridden past the QB when the OT gets his hands on the DE, who isn’t strong enough to fight through the block. In the wide 9, because the DE lines up wider, the OT has to move in space to reach the DE, which requires more athleticism on the part of the OT, but this puts a premium on both quickness and the ability to cut sharply at full speed for the DE.

One guy I really want to see in camp this year is Hunt, he’s supposedly bulked up to 260 lbs, but I want to see if he has maintained his quickness and agility. With Graham, the question will come down to the knee and if it allows him to cut and win the corner.

Baloophi

The troubling thing about the Jaws restoration is that just like when he swapped the original shotguns for walkie-talkies in “E.T.”, Spielberg has replaced the shark with a blood-thirsty riptide.

TommyLawlor

Ha.

What if he replaced the shark with ET? Now that would be an interesting movie.

“I think we’re gonna need a smaller boat. And some Reeses Pieces.”

austinfan

Bleech. Spielberg and Lucas ruined movies, especially Sci Fi movies.
Compare Bladerunner to all the overly loud, badly written and worse acted crap that has come out the last three decades.

And don’t get me started on how far comedy has degenerated since Dr. Strangelove and Animal House.

It was one thing when you watched bad movies in drive-ins with your girlfriend distracting you with an exhibition of oral talents, quite another to spend $10 to have your eardrums assaulted while you watch overdone computer graphics on a postage stamp sized screens with cellphones beeping.

Cable television has become the last resort for people who talk in complete sentences, where actors over 30 and writers who can produce snappy dialogue go to retire.

Baloophi

Some writers who are hopefully producing snappy dialogue might want you to consider CBS on Monday nights at 8pm, but otherwise, yeah… cable.

TommyLawlor

Awesome.

M0rton

That would be nice to see Graham shock us all and become the player we had hoped he would become.

The chances are probably slim, but there’s at least that hope.

Baloophi

Yay! The annual “Ten Foot Pole” list!

This is by far one my favorite parts of the draft process. Here are my “do not touch” guys in no particular order and often with no particular reason.

QUINTIN COPLES (DE – UNC)
Inconsistent effort scares the crap out of me, but not as much as his 5-inch thick arm brands.

DONTARI POE (DT – MEMPHIS)
If you have “off the chart” measurables yet can’t produce against teams like Austin Peay, Rice, and Middle Tennessee, then maybe another chart you should be off is the depth chart.

RILEY REIFF (OT – IOWA)
Does not follow the rules. Can’t even abide by the “i before e” rule in his own last name.

JANORIS JENKINS (CB – NORTH ALABAMA)
You can’t spell “potential” without “P-O-T.” Also, if you rearrange the letters in “shut down corner” you get “use a condom”… that is if you flip the “w” upside-down to make an “m”, add an “a” and then simply ignore a bunch of letters.

ZACH BROWN (LB – UNC)
I know he covers well in space but maybe that’s where he belongs if he can’t tackle. Don’t let him become our “can you really teach tackling?” guinea pig.

BRANDON WEEDEN (QB – OKLAHOMA STATE)
Love his leadership skills. Hate that he first exhibited them in the Battle of Fort Sumter.

KEVIN ZEITLER (OG – WISCONSIN)
Last name too close to an ex-girlfriend’s.

VONTAZE BURFICT (LB – ARIZONA STATE)
I’ve got a bad feeling about him but I’m not really sure why. Seems like a great kid with a great heart and a good head on his shoulders.

BRUCE IRVIN (DE – WEST VIRGINIA)
Had 9.5 sacks this year. Unfortunately the last one was a sign in a Jimmy Johns restaurant 30 days before the draft.

KELLEN MOORE (QB – BOISE STATE)
When everyone agrees that your greatest attribute is “being an offensive coordinator in the huddle” then maybe you should be an offensive coordinator.

SCOTT WEDIGE (C – NORTHERN ILLINOIS)
Might have crippling flashbacks to junior high and chants of “Wedgie! Wedgie!” Clearly affected him enough to choose the one position where a guy has his hands under your butt all game.

AARON CORP (QB – RICHMOND)
Why draft a private equity firm?

GermanEagle

Lmfao! No offense to Tommy, but that my friend, was the post of the year!

Boiled down, these criticisms amount to saying the Eagles’ F.O. will waste their premiums picks.

That view is interesting, because — taken at face value — it’s exactly the reason to package off a bunch of picks for Ryan Tannehill (if he’s 1.5 years from being as good as D-Mac w/out the worm burners) or MoClai.

Or, if this draft had one, a Julius Peppers type.

Something Roseman said a year or two back was the Eagles like to get lots of mid-level picks cause that’s where the value is. Hence, the trade downs.

He may be right. The problem’s been execution. So if Roseman and Reid stink at the draft, then pull the trigger on a Top-6 pick and get whoever it is the Eagles covet but can’t wait for at 15.

ACViking

RE: PETER KING – CNN

I’ve remarked on this before. Take what Peter King says about the Eagles to heart.

In 2011, he called Watkins to the Eagles basically from the day the Senior Bowl ended.

In 2009, he called Shady to the Birds (in Rd 1, not 2). Same thing in 2008 . . .He had D-Jax to the Birds (Rd 1, not 2).
_________________________

A week or so back in MMQB, Peter King said the Eagles would spend a 2nd round pick on a QB. Besides Weeden, who’s there in Rd 2?

My point, as said before, is King gets scoop on the Birds.

And if he’s saying the Eagles will draft a QB with a high pick, then I’d surmise there’s a good chance the Eagles will do exactly that . . . maybe even in Rd 1.

D3Keith

God, we dodged a bullet on Brandon Meriweather. I was mad about that pick for a while, fearing he would join Paul Pierce when the 76ers passed on him for Larry Hughes in pantheon of great almost-picks of my lifetime.

Arby1

It took me YEARS to get over the Larry Hughes pick…

TommyLawlor

Great stuff. I may actually put this up in the form of a post.

wee2424

Good sports writer, my co-worker said he once met him and said he isba huge egotistical asshole.

Peter King in his mock draft linked the Eagles to Quinton Coples and Weeden (taken by Browns at 27 after a trade up). Just fyi.

BC1968

Whopper Wednesday is the best day to get 2 whoppers, 3 or 4 even. What a deal!

wee2424

I’m down with the whopper, but I still think Wendies has the best fries, followed by McDonald’s and then BK.

wee2424

Random. But Tommy I really have to give you props man. Before I ran into this site I used to scoure the net for Eagles news. Since I found this site the only 2 sites I go on for football is this site right here and PFT. I love your columns and analysis.

Also have to give props to all the members that comment on here. Pretty much everyone knows their stuff and it makes for real interesting and high quality convos/debates.

There is barely any of that childish bashing on other posters that many a site has, specifically PE.coms forums.

JJ_Cake

Hope you get a good paying gig outta this Tommy. I agree with you Wee, this site is insightful and fun. It’s a good community of eagle fans too. I go here and check out the links Tommy puts up, and nfl.com. I like Mayock’s analysis, but will not pay to read espn. Thanks again for the great site.

TommyLawlor

Appreciate the nice words, fellas.

I spent almost 7 years on the EMB (PE..com forums). There were a lot of smart guys on there, but some nonsense to deal with as well. I miss hanging out there, but running a couple of sites keeps me spread thin. The one thing I know…there are a lot of great Eagles fans out there and talking about Eagles football is as good as it gets.

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